On Monsieur's Departure / Elizabeth I
On Monsieur’s Departure is a poem attributed to Queen Elizabeth I, written in the form of a meditation on the failure of her marriage negotiations with Francis, Duke of Anjou On Monsieur's Departure I grieve and dare not show my discontent, I love and yet am forced to seem to hate, I do, yet dare not say I ever meant, I seem stark mute but inwardly do prate. I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned, Since from myself another self I turned. My care is like my shadow in the sun, Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it, Stands and lies by me, doth what I have done. His too familiar care doth make me rue it. No means I find to rid him from my breast, Till by the end of things it be supprest. Some gentler passion slide into my mind, For I am soft and made of melting snow; Or be more cruel, love, and so be kind. Let me or float or sink, be high or low. Or let me live with some more sweet content, Or die and so forget what love ere meant. (1533-1603), the author of the poem]] (1555-1584), a potential husband of Elizabeth, and the monsieur of the title]] Background Francis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon, the "monsieur" of the poem, was the youngest son of Henry II of France and (after 1574) heir to the French throne. In 1578, arrangements began to be made for marrying him to Elizabeth I. Alençon was in fact the only one of Elizabeth's foreign suitors to court her in person. He was 24 and she was 46. Despite the age gap, the two soon became very close, Elizabeth dubbing him her "frog". Whether or not Elizabeth truly planned marrying Anjou is debatable. She was quite fond of him, knowing that he was probably going to be her last suitor. There are many anecdotes about their flirting.Francis, Duke of Anjou," Wikipedia, February 7, 2017, Wikimedia Foundation. Web, Mar. 14, 2017. The match was controversial with the English public: English Protestants warned the Queen that the "hearts the English people will be galled when they shall see you take to husband a Frenchman, and a Papist." Most of her notable councillors, foremost among them Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, and Sir Francis Walsingham, were strongly opposed. Eventually, Elizabeth pragmatically did not judge the union a wise one, considering the overwhelming opposition of her advisors. She continued, however, to play the engagement game for 3 years, if only to warn Philip II of Spain, another of her suitors, what she might do, if it became necessary. Finally, the game played itself out, and Elizabeth bade her "frog" farewell in 1581. She is said to have composed this poem on his departure from the English court. Form The poem consists of 3 stanzas in the form of the English sestet – a 6-line stanza with a rhyme scheme of A-B-A-B-C-C. The verse or meter is iambic pentameter. Synopsis In the first stanza Elizabeth means that she hides strong unhappiness and love (of Anjou) in favour of an appearance of cool and dislike. This show may be meant to please her subjects or save her pride because the idea of her marriage with Anjou was very unpopular amongst her subjects. In any case, she has turned (or is turning) from her former (and more natural) self (or behavior) to something different. The second stanza is about her unhappiness. It is her constant companion, she has never been able to make it go away, and she feels that only death could banish it. In the 3rd stanza Elizabeth asks for less intense feelings, saying she is fragile. She wishes Anjou were less nice so that she could get over her feelings more easily. The fourth line means either that she wishes she could feel good or bad, which would seem to contradict the first line, or that she wishes she could show (and vent) these feelings properly, or perhaps that she could feel one extreme or the other, rather than both at once: high OR low. Finally, she says if she cannot be happier, she would like to die so that thoughts of love no longer trouble her. She doubts she will ever be fulfilled in terms of love. Whether she really wanted to die or said that for dramatic effect is unclear, and of course the overall sincerity of the poem is also unclear. Theme Elizabeth expresses the feeling of sorrow that surfaces from this disillusion but also understands the other person’s perspective. Her dilemma is suppressing her emotions. The poem is expressed with a sorrowful tone. Hence, creating a feeling of pity in the audience, specifically in the closing line, “Or die and so forget what love ere meant” (18). Recognition In popular culture In Susan Kay's novel Legacy, Elizabeth starts writing the poem as Anjou leaves her. The first part of the poem is written in the book as this happens. In Margaret Irwin's novel "Young Bess" Elizabeth writes lines from the poem after her lover Thomas Seymour is executed. The third episode of the BBC drama Elizabeth R, which deals with the courtship of the Queen, was titled 'Shadow in the Sun' after the poem. At the end of the episode Elizabeth (Glenda Jackson) mentally composes the poem, using a voiceover, as she watches her suitor depart. Selected lines of the poem were adapted and set to music by Michael Phipps and sung by the Mediaeval Baebes for the soundtrack to the later BBC drama The Virgin Queen. In the Channel 4 drama Elizabeth I, starring Helen Mirren as the Queen, the poem is given to Anjou upon his departure and as he reads it on the boat, Elizabeth's voice recites it over the scene. In their 2006 album "Silver Swan", the German band Qntal used the poem's first two stanzas as lyrics for their song "Monsieur's Departure".QNTAL - Monsieur's Departure References *Applebee, Arthur N., et al. The Language of Literature- British Literature. Boston: McDougal Littell, 2000. Notes External links ;Audio / video *"On Monsieur's Departure" at YouTube Category:Early Modern English poems Category:Elizabeth I of England